Sweet Rush

Wajda’s previous film 'Katyn' may have restored his international reputation, but it’s execution seemed strangely anonymous, despite the personal subject matter. But there’s no mistaking ‘Sweet Rush’ for the work of any other filmmaker: it’s a small film, perhaps, but a powerful one, fusing three separate and seemingly incompatible elements – a period romance, an on-set document and a heartbreaking to-camera elegy for leading lady Janda’s husband – into a fractured but compelling whole. A tribute to Janda’s strength and prowess as an actress, it’s constructed with Wajda’s customary grace, warmth and intellectual rigour.